The pressure was on for the Columbia Academy Lady Cougars to deliver on their home floor in the South State Tournament over the weekend, and they didn’t disappointing, keeping the championship trophy in house and securing the No. 1 seed in the South going into the Class 3A Tournament.
Head coach Dale Watts said it was extra special claiming the South State title in front of CA’s home fans.
After blowing out Canton Academy in the first round Feb. 10, the Lady Cougars (26-8) took care of business in the semifinals with a 37-27 victory over Lamar Christian Friday. Macey Jones narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, while Chandlar Havard and Lauren McDaniel (six rebounds) each added seven points.
Watts said the Lady Cougars weren’t as happy as they probably should have been after reaching the South State title game with the win because they didn’t finish well.
“We did what we had to do to win and got a lead, but we still had a problem finishing,” he said. “My thoughts to them were I felt like the Friday game was more important than the Saturday game. We didn’t play particularly well, but I guess we saved it for the next night.”
They definitely saved something special for the South State Championship Saturday, shooting an absurd 68% from the field and 5-of-8 from deep in a 57-32 victory over Clinton Christian. Everyone was on fire as Jones led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds, followed by Presley Dease with 10 points and six rebounds, Peyton McCain with seven points, seven boards and six assists and McDaniel with six points and seven rebounds.
“We were shooting the ball extremely well,” Watts said. “We came down and got the first six points within three feet of the basket. When we did that, that really opened up the perimeter because they had to close down inside and that opened things up on the outside. That’s what we want.”
On top of getting open looks on the perimeter, Watts said the passing to the outside was on point, allowing for the shooters to catch and shoot in rhythm. It wasn’t just the passes that led to threes that were impressive, but the passes inside to Jones — as they have been all year — were accurate, allowing her to not waste any time going up with her shot. If a pass inside to the post is off target and forces her to adjust, it gives the help defenders time to swarm and double or triple team Jones.
“That can disrupt the offense from the standpoint from being able to catch and finish the shot, and it gives time for the defense to collapse and adjust,” Watts said.
Next up for the Lady Cougars is the Class 3A Tournament, which will begin Tuesday after it was postponed a week because of the icy weather Mississippi is experiencing. They will face off against Oak Hill Academy (North No. 4), who also is the host school of the tournament, Tuesday at 5 p.m.
“It will help a little bit them playing in front of their home crowd. But I feel really good,” Watts said. “They have a real nice perimeter team and like to do a lot of pressing, and sometimes that’s difficult for us. We just have to prepare to handle those things.”
Columbia Academy ended up with a tough draw with how the bracket turned out. With a win over Oak Hill, it will play either North Delta School (North No. 2) or Bowling Green (South No. 3). North Delta was the favorite to win the North State Tournament, but its best player got suspended for the championship game, which it ended up losing to Kirk Academy. She will be back for the state tournament, though.
Meanwhile, Bowling Green has been the toughest team in the South that CA has faced this year. The bitter rivals have faced off three times this year with the games being decided by a total of eight points — all CA victories. The Lady Buccaneers got upset by Clinton Christian in the South State semifinals.
The semifinal game is scheduled for Friday at 3:30 p.m. with the championship being Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
“These girls want to put their picture on the wall, and they know what’s in front of them. It’s not going to be an easy task, but it is a task we can handle,” Watts said.
